The Ring of the Slave Prince - Softcover

Bjarne Reuter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1842703706 ISBN 13: 9781842703700

Publisher: Andersen Press, 2004

Synopsis

It is 1639, and the winds of a Caribbean storm howl with the promise of sunken treasure. Treasure is the means by which fourteen-year-old Tom O'Connor hopes to deliver his family from the drudgery of working at a run-down inn on the island of Nevis. But on this particular night he finds only two ragged castaways drifting near death - a maudlin Spaniard who calls himself Ramon the Pious and a slender black youth about Tom's age. Ramon claims the slave boy is a prince, worth his weight in gold if returned to his chieftain father across the ocean, and he shows Tom a ring to prove it. When Ramon and the slave prince disappear, the course of Tom's destiny is set as he pursues his elusive dream of wealth from skiff to galleon, plantation to pirate ship, from high-spirited escapades to hairbreadth escapes - and, sometimes, to heartbreak..

About this title

About the Author:

Bjarne Reuter grew up in Copenhagen, which is the setting of many of the author's books. He wrote his first book, Kidnapping, while studying at teachers' college and by the time he turned thirty, he could retire from teaching and devote himself to writing. Today, with more than 60 works to his credit, he is Denmark's most widely read author.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 6-10-Fact blends well with fiction in a 1600s action-packed, high-seas adventure complete with swashbuckling pirates, slave trading, and shipwrecks. Tom O'Connor, 14, is the unlikely hero, a street-smart and fatherless boy who lives on the Caribbean island of Nevis and is told by a fortune teller that he has "blue blood, springwater and a raging pirate all mixed up inside." In a plot that twists and turns, Tom rescues a Spaniard named Ramon and his slave, Boto, from a shipwreck, only to be told that the slave is the son of a wealthy African king. A plan to return the lad to the Bissagos Islands for a reward sets the trio out from Nevis to the dangerous city of Port Royal, Jamaica where they become separated. Tom's capricious nature and prowess as a liar often springs him from the grasp of dangerous pirates and evil landowners that plague his misguided quest. His time spent as an indentured servant on a vividly described plantation changes Tom's views about slavery and the moral compass of the story. His escape to a pirate ship finds him at the mercy of a cutthroat captain and mutinous crew and is wonderfully colorful, and at times gruesome, rivaling any classic tale. All's well that ends well when Tom and Boto reunite as friends.-Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY
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About this edition

• Publisher: Andersen Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1842703706
• ISBN 13: 9781842703700
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384